It’s a bit early to post a ski edit, simply because there’s no skiing in Utah right now. But if you go to South America, there’s all the snow you need this time of year to farm some corn and shoot tons of video documenting the experience of skiing in the summer. We’ve been posting…
Category: Backcountry
Backcountry skiing Patagonia: Refugio Baguales
The cold wood deck pressed against my back as I laid down in the frozen night at Refugio Baguales and gazed on an alien-looking sky. Trippy music emanated from Justin’s phone as we all stretched out in a row, picking out constellations our own imaginations had to conjure, as the southern-hemisphere night held no familiarity….
Backcountry skiing Patagonia: Catedral Norte
After our time spent at Refugio Frey, we needed to decide how to return to civilization. We debated about going back the way we came in through Valle Van Titter and The Notch, but overnight temperatures that dropped to 20 degrees meant that particular slope would be frozen solid. Most people who visit the hut…
Q&A with Mike Kilcheinstein of RAMP Sports, handcrafting skis in Park City
There are a lot of small, boutique ski companies popping up around the country, including here in Utah. Viice, Bluehouse, and Surface are just a few examples, and now there’s a new player in the local ski manufacturing community. RAMP Sports recently built a ski factory in Park City where they are making skis by…
Backcountry skiing Patagonia: Refugio Frey
“Refugio. Refugio. Refugio. Refugio? Refugio?” Our waitress stared at Adam with a complete lack of understanding on her face. He was trying to explain to her in a painfully American accent that we were on our way to Refugio Frey, a stone, backcountry hut located on the shores of Laguna Toncek beneath massive rock spires,…
Backcountry skiing Patagonia: Bariloche and Cerro Catedral
Summer in Utah means winter in the southern hemisphere, so for addicted-to-turns skiers like myself, traveling to a place like Argentina is the only option to defy the seasons and magically ski in September. Luckily, I have friends who have the same mindset, including Justin Lozier and Sean Zimmerman-Wall of Patagonia Ski Tours, who go…
A Canadian perspective on Utah skiing
Utah skiers all know that we have the best snow on the planet, as Ski Utah always reminds us with their “Greatest Snow on Earth” slogan. But what do powderhounds from other countries – other skiing countries, think about Utah? Well, our friends at BackcountrySkiingCanada.com took a trip to the Wasatch Mountains last winter, and…
Patagonia Ski Tours 5 Star Adventure Ski Trip with Jans Mountain Outfitters
It happens every summer. The warm months get downright hot, and all the snow melts in the Wasatch, leaving brown cliffs and scree fields instead of snow. Nothing quite makes me lament the disappearance of ski season as much as the fact that I haven’t skied in months, and the knowledge that the next time…
Getting after it: Backcountry skiing in June
Sometimes the urge to go skiing becomes so overwhelming, that you’re willing to do just about anything to carve a few turns – including hike over 3,000 feet just to get to a sliver of snow. Well, our crew of Justin Lozier, Sean Zimmerman-Wall, Ben Napolitano, and myself did just that when we skied the…
Ski season to “Pre-season” (AKA blister season)
As we close out another amazing season on the snow, saying goodbye to our beloved ski gear takes time… I still have mine sitting by my door, you know just in case. So here is a quick check list to make sure your gear will be ready for action when the snow flies: – Take…